Tip of the Iceberg
Planned giving is a professional discipline few people imagined as a career option 25-30 years ago. According to their Web site, there are more than 11,000 people supporting the mission of the National Committee on Planned Giving–an organization that didn’t exist 32 years ago. With that kind of explosive growth and interest, a logical person might conclude that it’s time for a plateau or “correction” to occur.
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The Tandem Trust Plan
With the combined effect of state and federal income, property, sales, capital gains, excise, use and estate taxation arguably at an all-time high, people (and their professional advisers) have become keenly aware of the need to do income, retirement and estate planning with tax considerations at the forefront.
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Determining Donor Motivation
In the world of planned giving, gifts are not always as neat and tidy as they are in the outright giving business. For instance, when a donor gives you cash or stock from a publicly traded company, it’s hard to imagine how the donor has any other motivation than to support your organization.
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Working with Professional Advisers
I’ve been in the development and planned giving field for all of my working life. During that time, we’ve witnessed a tremendous rise in the popularity of planned giving. Today, there are many more people living in retirement than there were 20 years ago, wealth among retirees has risen tremendously, and people are more inclined than ever to consider charitable strategies in their overall retirement and estate planning.
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Gift Acceptance Issues
It’s December 27. The phone rings in your office. You answer and begin a conversation with someone you don’t recognize as a donor or volunteer with your organization. Early on, the caller mentions that he has been talking with his accountant and he is happy to inform you that your organization will be receiving some commercial real estate in the industrial section of your city before December 31.
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Disposition of Qualified Plans: An Opportunity for Heirs and Charity
On occasion, someone will say, “If you put an asset into a charitable trust, because of the increased cash flow, capital gain avoidance and income tax deduction, you will end up better off financially than if you sold the asset and invested the after-tax proceeds.”
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Doing Retirement Planning…Again
Americans are living longer, healthier lives. The fitness and health food craze has been embraced by all segments of our society. In fact, it’s not a craze anymore. An increasing number of older Americans routinely exercise and have diets that are low in saturated fat, high in fiber, complex carbohydrates and vitamins. In addition to the emphasis on exercise and diets, medical advancements have contributed to the longevity many people are experiencing as well.
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Four Steps in Evaluating CRTs
Let’s face it. Charitable trust planning has become increasingly complex. In 1997 alone, FUP trusts resurfaced–this time with the IRS leading the charge! Capital gain to income NIMCRUTS gained wider popularity last year because of their “total investment return” capability. And, the new capital gain rate tiers have made PGOs even more acutely aware of the need to pay close attention to the type(s) of investments that are selected in CRT arrangements.
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When a 10 Percent Remainder Makes Sense
When can a unitrust with a 10 percent remainder value make sense, particularly if the charity is being asked to serve as trustee? The answer: When the funding amount is large enough and the term of years is short. This is particularly true if, as the old adage says, “part of something is better than nothing at all.”
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When the Donor’s Advisor Manages CRT Investments
With increasing frequency, prospective planned giving donors and their advisers pose questions to us for which they expect a simple answer. For example: Will your organization serve as trustee, even if it will not be the primary remainder beneficiary of the trust?
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The Financial Services Industry: Paul Bunyan or Goliath?
It has been a storybook time in the field of planned giving. The meadows have been green, the hillsides covered with flowers, and the rivers flowing clear, cold and deep. It truly has been a land filled with milk and honey. However, the sleeping giant has awakened and is roaming about the valley.
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For the Love of People
Planned giving. In spite of the year, just completed, what a wonderful career choice! For the most part, we spend our days helping intelligent, reasonably wealthy people (and their professional advisors), find creative ways to support a myriad of noble and worthy causes.
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Ramping Up for Real Estate Gifts
For most of us, this period of history marks a unique, uncharted territory in our planned giving careers. While some still claim the financial markets were worse during the 1970s than today, the planned giving field was in its infancy then, and had reasonably little bearing on the revenue charitable organizations received.
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Charitable Annuities and Shrinking Reserves
Timing is everything. You’ve heard that adage before. These past 10 years have been both a golden era for organizations that issued charitable annuities and, simultaneously, one of the scariest periods to manage the annuity reserve fund. What has happened to make that so?
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A Trust for Younger Donors
For years, most of us have considered a Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) only for our wealthier, older clients. Today, however, that thinking has begun to change. Why? Because people in their 50s–during their peek income earning years–have come to realize that with a 30-40 year life expectancy, a CRT can provide an additional tax shelter to complement their existing 401k, IRAs and/or KEOGH plans.
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Recipe for Success
I’m not good in the kitchen. I’ve been known to burn perfectly good macaroni and cheese and serve TV dinners piping…cold. But I do know a thing or two about how to “cook up” a successful planned giving program. In my experience, there are three basic ingredients that every organization needs if it is going to be successful.
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Training Talk
You’ve just been hired for a development job, but this one has a new twist. You’re also responsible for planned giving!
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Stuffin’ It
Let’s face it: Planned giving marketing can be an expensive proposition. Creating brochures, sending targeted mailings, conducting seminars and so on cannot only be expensive, but it can also be logistically impossible for many nonprofits.
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Respecting Our Seniors’ Perspective
Some of my best friends are seniors. Tom Brokaw calls seniors “America’s greatest generation.” Indeed, most of our best planned giving prospects have lived through one World War (if not two) and the Great Depression. Much has been written about seniors in our culture, the period in which they grew up and how they view the world today.
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Why I Love Planned Giving
In 1984, as a newly hired college administrator, I found myself smack dab in the middle of an aggressive capital campaign. The campaign was off to a dangerously slow start when a wonderfully fascinating retired couple walked into my office with a stock certificate worth $104,000.
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Charitable Remainder Trusts
For years, most accountants have considered a Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) only for their wealthier older clients. Today, however, that thinking has begun to change.
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Philanthropy in Retirement and Estate Planning
Much has been written and said about the giving tendencies of wealthier Americans. Whether you hold the belief that they don’t give enough, or that they are quite generous, there is one point that we should all agree on. Wealthier Americans should know more about their giving options in overall retirement and estate planning.
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Winds of Change in Philanthropy
Until recently philanthropy in America had only one face. A person would make a gift outright to a charitable organization of their choosing, and, in return, the charitable organization would provide the donor with a gift receipt-simple, straightforward stuff. However things have changed, particularly during the last 10 years.
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An Alternative to the 1031 Exchange
Several charitable techniques are available to accountants to facilitate real estate transactions for their clients. The charitable remainder trust (CRT) is one of the most important. Following is a review of the most significant considerations when helping your client create a real estate funded CRT–instead of simply exchanging again for another property.
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Charitable Planning: “Wash Out” Strategies With Real Estate
For nearly 30 years, Portland and Southwest Washington real estate markets have risen steadily. As Metro continues to maintain a tight urban growth boundary, real estate values in our area will likely continue to outpace other fast-growing areas around the United States.
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Charitable Trusts vs. Stretch IRAs in Estate Planning
The minimum distribution rules changed for IRAs in 2002, essentially cutting by approximately 50% the amount a person over 70.5 years old is required to take each year as income. As a result, many people will, at their passing, have IRA account balances that will be twice as large as they would have been prior to 2002.
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